For the areas of communication (with patients, relatives, colleagues, or in interprofessional settings), ethics, psychology, as well as for the training of physical examinations, professional simulation patients are often the method of choice for both teaching and assessments and examinations. Almost every medical school in the German-speaking region now has at least one simulation patient program. However, simulation patients are also increasingly used in the academic and professional training of other health professions, as well as in emergency and disaster drills. Unlike role-playing, where authenticity heavily depends on the acting skills of the participants or students, the respective simulation can be much better controlled and adapted to the educational requirements through the training of the actors. The focus is on...